Introduction
North of the railway lies a small industrial estate situated
in Eldon Way (off Nursery Road). Directly north of this industrial estate lies a
piece of land, easily accessed from Nursery Road, which over the last 20 -25
years has been allowed to turn into rough grass & scrub land.
2015 Google Earth view of the land north of Eldon Way,
plus the two streams in blue.
Past land use
In the dim and distant past it was first farmland, then was
split up and sold to different owners and was partly a sports field (area A),
unused grassland, then the start of a woodland (areas B & D), part of a
builders yard (area C), whilst area E remained as farmland.
The ‘history button’ on Google years shows the change of use
quite clearly.
1960 Google Earth view, showing the land use as farmland.
1990 Google Earth view, showing the change to grassland.
2003 Google Earth view, showing the woodland scrub developing.
Returning Wildlife
At first glance the mixture of rough grassland, bramble
& self-seeded trees would not appear to offer much to attract the eye, but
to the plants and animals that have made their home it’s a great place to find
food and shelter and for a site very close to the main town it is one of the
least disturbed areas. A sort of unofficial wildlife reserve.
A winter visit
Saturday afternoon on 6th February was an
overcast and blustery day; as Winnie the Pooh might have said. A day to be
outside and let the wind blow the cobwebs away.
Area A, looking east from the Gravelley Way stream.
Looking over area A from the Gravelley Way stream, what was immediately
obvious was that this is a landscape managed by a group of small organic
lawnmowers, better known as rabbits (Orytolagus
cuniculus). Along the banks of the
stream rabbit burrows were easy to see and even though it was mid-afternoon
there were plenty of rabbits to be seen, initially running for cover, or else
skulking amongst the brambles and dead vegetation.
Hidden in the vegetation.
Peek a boo !
I've got my eye on you !
Rabbit burrows beside the Gravelley Way Stream.
A kestrel battled with the wind overhead and I guess that
the grassland was a favourite hunting ground, for it offered a great potential
for small mammals. Maybe I will set out some small mammal traps later this year
to see what species can be found. These will be live traps so the animals can
be released unharmed.
Walking north along the stream, past area B the trees were
full of small bird species. Blue tits, great tits, greenfinch, goldfinch and
chaffinch plus wren, dunnock and blackbirds were easy to see and hear. A few
fallen willow trees showed more signs of rabbit activity, as the bark had been
stripped away to get at the sap below.
Rabbit stripped bark on a fallen willow tree.
There also signs of human activity, with
discarded rubbish in places.
The rough grassland in area C, showed its past as a builders
junk yard, with assorted rubbish, a lot of which was old glass bottles. However
the rough grassland showed less rabbit grazing than area A. with many more
tussocks of grass, offering homes and food for voles and other small mammals.
Fox tracks amongst the tussocks indicated a regular hunting ground for the
local foxes.
Old glass bottles.
More glass bottles !
A view across Area C, looking towards
the back of the buildings on Maidstone Road.
A close up on the rough grassland.
On the other side of the Gravelley Way Stream, was the
remaining farmland (area E), surrounded with fencing to stop the rabbits munching
their way through the winter wheat planted in the field. Not much wildlife to
seen here !
Winter Wheat in area E, as viewed looking north west from area C.
The same area E, but looking from the Gravelley Way Stream
looking in a south west direction across the field.
A short detour to the other side of the field of winter wheat
and I was following the footpath alongside the Tudeley Brook, this time heading
upstream in a southerly direction. This gave me the opportunity to glance back over
the self-seeded birch trees in area D, behind a rather expensive metal fence.
Area E, looking south west from Tudeley Brook.
The fence is the same style as the boundary fence belonging to the ADT car
depot at the end of Eldon Way, so I guess they own the land and may in the
future wish to develop it, should their business need to expand further.
Meanwhile the developing birch woodland in area D has become a rabbit
sanctuary, with more burrows and hopping bunnies to view.
The future of this unofficial
nature reserve
In the current round of planning requests, permission was
turned down for housing development on this land, on account that it lies
within the River Medway’s fluvial flood zone, although I have to say it’s was
far drier than the open farmland in Church Farm, or the flat orchards next to
Foal Hurst Wood.
Time will tell what use will be made of the land in the
future, but at present it is providing a great place for local wildlife to live
and is an area I will return to for further posts, during my year of exploring
and writing about Paddock Wood’s natural history.
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